unify is the trusted student marketplace — a verified-students-only place to buy, sell, store and find what’s on around your campus. The unify blog is the part of our website where we publish guides, news from uni life, events, sports, features and the occasional partner or sponsored post. Like most modern websites, the blog and the wider unify site use cookies and similar technologies to work properly, to understand what’s useful, and — because the blog carries advertising — to show and measure ads.
This policy explains what those technologies are, why we use them, and the choices you have. It covers the unify website and blog, and should be read alongside our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. The cookies used inside the core unify app and marketplace are covered by Section 9 of that Privacy Policy. If anything here is unclear, please get in touch — we’d rather explain it than hide behind the jargon.
the short version
- Essential cookies keep the site secure and working — these are always on and don’t need your permission.
- Everything else — remembering preferences, analytics, and advertising — only runs if you say yes.
- When you first visit, you’ll see a banner with “Accept all” and “Reject all” given equal weight. Rejecting is just as easy as accepting.
- You can change your mind any time using the “Cookie settings” link in the footer of every page.
- We never sell your personal data, and saying no to non-essential cookies won’t lock you out of the blog.
01What cookies (and similar technologies) are
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to store on your device. When you come back, the site can read that file to remember things — like keeping you signed in, or remembering you’ve already seen our cookie banner.
“Similar technologies” covers anything that stores or reads information on your device for the same kinds of reasons. The UK regulator now groups all of this together as storage and access technologies. On the unify blog this can include:
- Pixels / tags — tiny invisible images or snippets that tell us a page or an ad was loaded.
- Local storage — a small amount of data kept in your browser (for example, remembering which blog category you last viewed).
- Software development kits (SDKs) and device identifiers — the equivalent tools inside the unify mobile app.
Throughout this policy we just say “cookies” for short, but we mean all of the above.
First-party vs third-party
First-party cookies are set by unify. Third-party cookies are set by other companies whose tools appear on our pages — for example an analytics provider, or an advertising partner that fills an ad slot on the blog. We tell you which categories of third parties we work with below, and each has its own privacy and cookie policy.
02Why we use them on the blog
The unify blog is free to read and partly funded by advertising and partner content. Here’s how cookies actually map to what you see on the page:
- Keeping things working — signing you in with your verified uni email, keeping the site secure, and remembering your cookie choices.
- Remembering preferences — small conveniences like the last blog category you filtered to (Campus life, Money & deals, Events, Sports, Job opportunities), or that you’ve already subscribed to the newsletter so we stop asking.
- Understanding what’s useful — which guides, news and event posts get read, so we write more of what helps and less of what doesn’t.
- Advertising — showing ads in the blog’s ad slots, keeping them relevant where you’ve allowed it, and measuring whether a campaign or a sponsored “partner spotlight” post actually worked, so we can report honestly to advertisers.
03The cookies we use, by category
We group cookies into four categories. Only the first is on by default; the other three run only with your consent.
| Category | What it does | Consent needed? | Typical lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | Core functions you'd expect: session management, login authentication and security tokens, signing in with your uni email, and remembering your cookie choices. The site can't work without these. | No — exempt | Session – 12 months |
| Preferences / functional | Remembers choices that make the blog nicer to use — last category viewed, dismissed prompts, region or display settings. | Yes | Up to 12 months |
| Analytics / performance | Counts visits and shows us — in pseudonymised or aggregated form — which posts are read and where people get stuck, so we can improve. Never used to identify you personally. | Yes | Up to 13 months |
| Advertising / targeting (blog only) | Lets our advertising partners show ads in the blog's ad slots, limit how often you see the same one, measure clicks and conversions, and — where you allow it — make ads more relevant. These run on the blog only, not inside the core app. | Yes | Up to 13 months |
04Advertising and sponsored content
Advertising helps keep the unify blog free. You’ll see two kinds of commercial content, and we label both:
- Ads in clearly marked ad slots (for example a leaderboard banner near the top, or an in-article unit). These may be served by third-party advertising partners.
- Sponsored posts — “partner spotlight” cards that a brand has paid to feature. These always carry a visible “Sponsored” label.
If you accept advertising cookies, our partners may use them to control how often you see an ad, to measure whether it led to a visit or sign-up, and — only where you’ve allowed it — to tailor which ads you see. If you reject advertising cookies, you’ll still see ads on the blog, but they’ll be generic rather than tailored, and measurement will be limited.
We do not sell your personal information, and we don’t allow advertising partners to use unify’s audience to build profiles for purposes unrelated to unify.
05Your choices and how to control cookies
You’re in control of everything except the strictly necessary cookies. Here’s how:
- The cookie banner. On your first visit you’ll be asked to choose. “Accept all” and “Reject all” are shown with equal prominence, and you can open “Manage preferences” to switch individual categories on or off.
- Cookie settings, any time. Use the “Cookie settings” link in the footer of every page to review or change your choices. Withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it.
- Your browser. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies in their settings. Blocking all cookies may stop parts of the site working.
- Industry opt-outs. You can manage many advertising cookies through Your Online Choices (UK/EU).
If your browser sends a “Global Privacy Control” or similar automated signal, we aim to honour it as a request to reject non-essential cookies where the law requires.
06The law, and your rights
unify is launching first in Scotland, part of the United Kingdom, so this policy is built around UK-wide law. The company behind unify is Unify Ltd (“Unify”), incorporated in England & Wales with its registered office at 46 Marlborough Place, London NW8 0PL. Unify is the data controller for the personal data involved in cookies. Two sets of rules apply:
- The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) — the UK’s specific cookie rules. They require your consent before we store or read non-essential cookies, with clear information up front. PECR was updated by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, whose cookie changes took effect in February 2026. This introduces narrow new exemptions (including certain low-risk analytics), but we take the careful approach and ask for your consent for analytics anyway, and always let you object.
- The UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 — these govern any personal data the cookies involve. Where we rely on consent, it must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous (no pre-ticked boxes), and you can withdraw it at any time.
Under data protection law you have rights over your personal data, including to access it, correct it, delete it, or object to certain uses. To exercise any of these, contact us using the details below.
The UK regulator is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data or cookies, you can complain to the ICO at ico.org.uk — though we’d appreciate the chance to put things right first.
Your full data-protection rights, our legal bases, retention periods and how we handle international (UK–US) data transfers are set out in our Privacy Policy. This Cookie Policy covers the cookie-specific choices that sit on top of those rights.
If you’re under 18
The unify Platform is intended for people aged 18 and over (and under-18s enrolled at a recognised university), and our Privacy Policy explains that we don’t knowingly collect data from under-18s on the Platform. The blog, however, is open to anyone — so for the blog we follow the ICO’s Children’s Code: non-essential cookies stay off until consent is given, and we don’t use advertising cookies to profile or target anyone who appears to be under 18. If you’re under 18 and unsure about any of this, ask a parent, guardian or your students’ union — or just ask us.
07Changes to this policy
As unify grows and we finalise our analytics and advertising partners, we’ll update this policy. When we make a meaningful change we’ll update the “Last updated” date at the top, and for significant changes we’ll ask for your consent again through the banner. This is a working draft (v0.1) prepared for the Scotland launch and is not yet the final published version.
08Contact
Questions about cookies or your data? We’re a small student team and happy to help.
- Email: hello@unifymarketplace.com
- Website: unifymarketplace.com
- Data controller: Unify Ltd, 46 Marlborough Place, London NW8 0PL, United Kingdom (incorporated in England & Wales).
- UK regulator: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) — ico.org.uk · 0303 123 1113.
see also: privacy policy — the full picture of how we handle your data